Jim Justice pleased White House didn’t leak his party switch

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Friday that he was pleased news of his party affiliation switch from Democrat to Republican wasn’t leaked ahead of his announcement.

“It was nice we were able to keep it as quiet as we kept it, because if it had come out you know it would be just a media barrage. And so the long and short of it is we did keep it, and we were able to keep, you know, something from leaking from the White House or leaking from here for a good while, so that was pretty good,” Justice told Fox Business Network.

Justice, who was elected last November as a Democrat, announced during President Trump’s rally in Huntington, W.Va., on Thursday that he was flipping to the GOP. 

{mosads}He told Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto on Friday that he had discussed the change with Trump about two and a half weeks before he actually made the announcement. 

In fact, Justice’s planned announcement was leaked to The New York Times hours before the rally. 

Trump’s White House has developed a reputation for its frequent leaks of sensitive — and, at times, embarrassing — information. The president and his allies have frequently decried the disclosures and have vowed to crack down on leakers.

On Friday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a governmentwide crackdown on leakers. That includes a Justice Department review of policies on subpoenaing media organizations.